Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound
by CaseyCuervo
Summary: Heero holds a secret close, and when it's discovered by an untrustworthy source his life is flipped on its axis.


Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Gundam Wing AC.

Warnings: language, graphic sexual content, yaoi and het, original characters**, twisting events of the manga/series** to benefit my story.

Pairings: 1x2/2x1, minor couples: 3x4, 5xS, 6x9

Author's Note: Special thanks to ExecutiveShrimp for beta-ing and letting me pick her brain, and Emocloud for reading this like two months ago when the idea for this story was still incredibly raw.

Summary: Heero holds a secret close, and when it's discovered by an untrustworthy source his life is flipped on its axis.

Title: Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound

-Preface-

_"Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides," - Andre Malraux_

-February 16th AC 201-

Lieutenant Yuy was known well for being strict with the newbie's under his command. He was notorious for punishing back talking with rigorous exercise, night shifts, and excessive paperwork duty. Though he was harsh on his trainees, the individuals under his watch tended to be some of the Preventers most well-adjusted and capable field agents. Any insubordination to his orders were always met with swift, just discipline. It was because of these established facts that made his students question why he was consistently lenient or even dismissive of Agent Donahue's behavior.

Agent Paul Donahue often made rude comments, and even ridiculed Lieutenant Yuy's training technique. He also could barely hold his own through the simplest of missions, but he advanced faster than the rest. The other trainees were beginning to question their Lieutenants judgment of Donahue, and suspected him of favoritism, which didn't make much sense since Donahue was far from the class pet, his harsh judgments put him in the typical roll of a bully. Whenever one of them talked back to Yuy, they were met with a grating discipline, often so that they were starting to dislike their leader greatly. And when his men questioned his actions regarding Donahue, Lieutenant Yuy "played dumb". Heero Yuy had his reasons for treating him way he does, and letting Paul Donahue do as he pleased, but no one knew why. Except for them.

"Dude, why'd you let that Donahue piece of shit advance to level three?" Lieutenant Maxwell asked his friend and occasional partner.

Heero sighed. "Because he met my requirements," he responded and continued to walk through the hall to his office.

Duo followed him hot on his tail. "No he didn't," he exacerbated. "He's a lazy ass and couldn't even do a proper drug bust on a low-level dealer."

"Just leave it alone, Duo," Heero snarled.

Duo raised both hands in a surrendering fashion and walked off in the direction of his own office. Heero didn't care what Donahue did, just as long as he kept his mouth shut.

Heero entered his office, closed and locked the door, and leaned heavily against it. Releasing a lofty sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to calm his tense nerves. He had dealt with plenty of disrespectful trainees over the past four years. Some didn't like the fact that someone younger than they held a higher position and had to take orders from someone half their age.

The Japanese man tried desperately to focus on the work that needed to be completed before the end of the workday and not Donahue. The new agent held obvious contempt and disdain for him, it was written clear as day on his face whenever they were in the same room. But Heero rather bite his tongue, and let Donahue get away with murder than deal with the consequences of having his secret revealed.

-The Next Day-

"Hey 'Ro, it's Friday. What're you up to tonight?" Duo asked as he leaned his hip against the counter in the break room.

The Japanese man shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing. Is there a poker game going on tonight?" The five ex-gundam pilots got together as frequent as possible, often over poker night, where they would enjoy the game, drinks, and talk about whatever. Heero really enjoyed spending time with his four best friends. He considered himself rather lucky to have such strong ties and understandings with them.

After the war, he had tried to distance himself from his comrades only to realize that in doing so, he was severing very strong bonds. Friendship was a concept that hadn't come easy to the former Wing pilot, and when he realized that he had four – possibly five people he could always count on – he made the conscious decision not to end the connection. Over time Heero discerned just how lucky he was in the way of friendship. Office gossip of betrayals and backstabbing were always heard around the water cooler, and he had people in his life that would never do such things to him. Well, as long as they didn't know.

"Naw, actually 'Fei and I were wanting to go to Daily's, you know, on Empressa and Las Flores," Duo boasted. "Think we can get Tro and Q-ball to tag along?"

"They don't really care for the bar scene," Heero stated, taking a sip from his steaming cup of bitter black coffee.

The braided man huffed. "Yeah, but we haven't gone out as a group in a while. So, I say we try to convince 'em." Duo leaned in and gave Heero a large grin, knowing that the blue-eyed man was the one who could convince Trowa into going out with them, which would inadvertently lead to Quatre agreeing as well.

Heero rolled his eyes. "I'll talk to Trowa, but no guarantees."

"That's fine. And hey, if they don't want to go, I doubt 'Fei will wanna come, so it could just me and -"

"I have to get back to work," Heero interjected.

A crestfallen expression crossed Duo's face for the briefest of moments. "Alright," he said. "Let me know what Tro says." And with that, the two men left the break room and headed back to their separate workspace.

Heero hadn't meant to hurt Duo's feelings, and it wasn't that he didn't wish to spend time with him alone, but when they were alone, it was awkward. There was a tangible sexual tension between the two, and Heero wasn't ready to deal with it yet. He would approach it in eight months...if Duo was still interested.

Being the news junkie that he is, Duo spent most of his office time searching the web for anything interesting happening on Earth or in space. Most all of his paperwork was dulled out to his rookies, whom were happy to help out their beloved Lieutenant. Skimming the screen in front of him, the braided man rested his chin in his fleshy palm as he scrolled further down the page. There wasn't much of anything that caught his interest until a side article caption captured his bored eyes: "Genetically Altered Persons of War Dying". A knot formed in his stomach, tightening his intestines nauseously as he clicked the link quickly.

Reading the article briskly it all became painfully clear. There were numerous people dying from the treatment they'd received before the war that was suppose to make them into more capable soldiers. A group of scientist who were formally located on the L1 colony believed they had created super human warriors by adding and removing specific chromosomes from the genome. The DNA manipulation worked for its intended purpose, but as the soldiers aged their bodies began to wither. Their deaths are a painstakingly slow process wherein the body shuts down by one organ at a time. The scientists' whereabouts are unknown and subsequently, cannot be brought to justice for their crimes against Humanity.

Duo knew Heero had been modified for war and that posed the question, is he dying? Was his DNA spliced as severally as those whom were dropping like flies? Sending the article to the Japanese man via e-mail, Duo typed underneath, _Do you know about this?_ And waited impatiently for a response.

A tiny chat window opened at the bottom left of the screen with Heero's name and reply: _Yes, I'm aware of this._

_ : …Are you dying too?_

_ : No, Duo, I'm not dying._

_ : Seriously. If you are, you have to tell me right fucking now._

_ : I'm fine._

_ : You better not be lying to me._

_ : I'm not lying to you._

_ : If I find out you are, I'll kill you._

_ : Okay, if I'm lying and you figure it out, I give you permission to murder me. Just hide my corpse really well._

_ : I'll hide your dead body between the walls in my apartment._

_ : That's a little gross, but okay._

_ : I'll pour kitty litter over you so you don't stink up my place with your rotting flesh._

_ : Just don't molest me after you've done it._

_ : No promises._

_ : Ewww. Alright, I'm getting back to work now._

_ : lol, k. I'll be dreaming of you naked on my bed, minus a pulse._

_ : You're real fucked up. You know that, right?_

_ : Yup._

_ : Bye_

_ : ttyl_

Duo swiveled back and forth in his office chair, pondering the possibility of Heero being untruthful. Venturing to place himself in Heero's shoes, the violet-eyed man conjectured that he too would keep something like that a well-guarded secret. He wouldn't want his friends watching over him as he shriveled into a ghost of his former self. With Heero being the way he is – reserved and secretive – Duo understood why he'd be as unforthcoming about this as he would about any other thing. Maybe this was why the blue-eyed man kept him at an arms length. Since the end of the war, their bond had succeeded friendship and entered the realms of honest affection and attraction, but Heero was noticeably halting the progression of their shared desires. If he were in fact dying slowly, Duo could understand why the Japanese man wouldn't want to drag him into a relationship only to pass away, like so many others had done in his life. Or maybe he was fretting over nothing and Heero was just fine, but if one day he disappeared without a trace, Duo would know why.

-Flashback-

_Slender pale arms wrapped around the stiff body of another boy. As if sleeping in alleyways in the dead of winter wasn't awful enough, the virus that plagued the undesirable souls of L2 were killing off their inhabitants at an alarming rate. The pale boy squeeze his friend tighter for warmth, but something wasn't right. He was as cold as the early morning air around them. Pushing himself up, the unnamed boy with large violet eyes peered down at his friends' ashen face peculiarly._

_"Solo?" he rasped out. The slightly older boy didn't open his eyes. Didn't move. Didn't appear to be breathing. Shaking his friend, the boy squeaked pitifully, "Solo?" He whined like a sad puppy, hot tears rolling down his hollowed cheeks. "Solo?" his cries echoed off the brick exteriors of the surrounding buildings, waking the other children and preteens in their gang._

_Eventually one of the older girls pried him off their group leader. She ushered him away, wrapped a tattered torn blanket around his quivering form, and attempted to calm him. "It's okay," she soothed, brushing his chestnut bangs out of his dirty face. "Solo's always going to be with us, with you."_

_He reflected on what she had said for the rest of the day, and as he laid his head back down on a cardboard box for another night of trembling sleep, the little boy mumbled, "If Solo's with me, we'll be Duo."_

-End Flashback-

Could he really be strong enough to preserver through another loss equivalent to that? Duo wasn't sure. All he could do was pray and hope he wouldn't be loosing Heero or another friend until they were old wrinkly men.

-Later That Evening-

The five ex-gundam pilots all recently twenty-one except Trowa who was a year older – maybe? Who really knew how old they were – met at Daily's around seven in the evening. Heero was successful in convincing Trowa to drag his and Quatre's ass to the local watering hole. They enjoyed drinks and a variety of games that the sports bar played on multiple television screens. They cheered for the teams they preferred, and booed the teams they disliked. Most of their favored teams were from their home colonies, all except for Wufei's who preferred any and all teams from China.

On his fifth beer, Heero was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol in his system. Duo excused himself to use the restroom and three pairs of eyes laid into the blue-eyed man.

"What?" Heero asked uncomfortable under their piercing stares.

Wufei cocked an eyebrow and asked, "When are you two just going to hook up and get it over with already?"

Heero feigned ignorance. "I don't know what you mean."

An exasperated snort came from their blonde companion. "Oh, come off it already. You two flirt all the time."

"No we don't!" Heero refuted.

Trowa smirked and added, "Yes, you do. It's obvious that you like him, and he's liked you for god knows how long. What's holding you back?"

"Nothing," he grunted and crossed his arms over his chest.

Wufei deadpanned, "Then do something. Even we can feel the strain."

-Next Monday-

"Everyone is to go though the course four times," Lieutenant Yuy, commanded his group. Heero noticed Donahue snickering and whispering back and forth with two other agents - Batista and O'Brien - in the rear of the group. At his command, the three men glared back at their Lieutenant.

"Go!" Heero barked. Most of the class took off in a dead sprint to get through the course as quickly as possible, while the gossiping men jogged lazily to start. O'Brien intentionally knocked his shoulder against Heero's as he passed him, an ape-like gesture to dare any kind of reprimand. The bump to the shoulder jostled Heero a little, but the disgusted looks he had received from the three men made his heart pound and his throat tighten. Donahue was talking. He had to put an end to it.

After the newbie's had finished the grueling training course four times, they dispersed into the locker room to wash up. Heero grabbed Donahue by the elbow, and yanked him off to the side.

"Get your hands off me," the agent-in-training snarled.

"What did you say to Batista and O'Brien?" Heero growled quietly.

A smug smirk played on Donahue's face as his hazel eyes glittered with mischief. "Did you honestly think I'd keep quiet just because you're letting me advance faster than the everyone else?"

"So they know?"

"Yeah, they know," Donahue laughed and smiled boldly.

Dismay was making Heero's hands tremble and palms sweat. "What do I have to do to make sure you keep your mouth shut?" He asked angrily, brows furrowing in a vicious death glare.

Donahue raised his right hand, and circled his thumb over his index and middle finger.

An offended snort came from the Japanese man. "You want money," he stated.

"Yeah, how much are you willing to pay to keep your nasty little secret?" Donahue asked with a wide toothy grin.

"How much do you want?"

The older man shrugged. "Don't know. Give me a few days to think about it."

"Fine. Keep O'Brien and Batista quiet." Heero turned on his heel and left.

Back in his office, Heero rubbed his temples in attempt to rid a headache. _/I either pay him, or kill him and the other two./_ He didn't find the second option to be a solution. Heero only killed in the line of duty, he was no murderer. But he had to keep them quiet. If his "nasty little secret" got out, he would be ruined. The few other people who had known in the past never treated him the way Donahue did.

-Flashback-

_"Alright kid, you pretend to be my son and I'll teach ya everything I know." The man smiled and reached out his hand._

-End Flashback-

There was a knock on Heero's open office door. The dark-haired Japanese man looked up to see Duo leaning against the frame, arms crossed over his broad chest, and a questioning expression on his heart-shaped face.

"What's wrong?" The braided man asked, concern dripping from his every word.

Removing his hands from the sides of his head, Heero replied, "Nothing."

Duo eyed him suspiciously, and shrugged it off a moment later. There was that little nagging voice in the back of his head telling him to watch the blue-eyed man closely for any signs of ailment. Duo still wasn't convinced that Heero wasn't dying from what the scientists had done to him. Figuring former zero one was bending the truth about "feeling fine", Duo decided not to call him out on it. Getting Heero to open up about something he didn't want to discuss was like getting him to eat Brussels sprouts, impossible. Duo hated those nasty green things, and cringed at the sight and smell of them.

Crossing the threshold, Duo sat at the edge of Heero's desk and began fiddling with the few picture frames that were placed on the wood surface. One of them was of all five pilots just after rescuing Relena from Dekim Barton and Mariemaia. They all smiled or smirked, except for Heero who kept up his stony façade. The second frame held a photo of Relena and Heero together. In that particular picture, Heero had a goofy little smirk on his face. He had been fairly drunk on the first anniversary of the Eves War, thanks to Duo. The third was of Duo himself, shocked and gun drawn. His nineteenth self-appointed birthday had been a surprise party. Duo had walked into his dark apartment, jumped and pulled his gun out when the lights turned on and everyone screamed "SURPRISE!" Sally snapped the photograph just before everyone ducked for cover. No shots had been fired, but they all decided that surprise parties might not be the best idea for the former Gundam pilots.

The images made Duo smile softly. "Can you believe it's almost been five years since the Barton Foundations uprising?"

"It doesn't seem that long ago, does it?" Heero responded wistfully.

"No, it doesn't. Five years of peace, and fighting to maintain it. We gotta do something great for the anniversary this year," Duo said as he turned his beaming smile in Heero's direction. That smile along with those shining violet eyes made Heero grin in return. Over the past five years, Heero had gotten more comfortable showing his emotions on his face. Smiling and laughing came easily now. He was still trying to live by his emotions, even though the ones he had for Duo had to wait.

"What're you doin' for lunch today?" The violet-eyed man asked.

"Meeting up with Relena at that bistro place."

Duo chuckled. "The Vice Foreign Minister find time in her busy schedule to have a social life?"

Heero rolled his eyes. "For today, at least."

-Lunch-

"So, how are things with you?" Relena asked, taking a drag off her cigarette. The Vice Foreign Ministers smoking habit was a well-kept secret.

Heero scowled at the woman in the wide brim hat, sunglasses, and shall wrapped around her head and hair. Whenever out in public she disguised herself so she could have a taste of normalcy in her very public life. "You know, I didn't save your life just so you could kill yourself slowly with cigarettes," he disapproved.

She smirked. "Please don't lecture me again. I know all the health risks that come with smoking, I'm not an invalid. And you tried to kill me first."

Heero grunted and stabbed at his salad. "Coulda fooled me, and I only tried to kill you because you were in the way and annoying."

Relena dipped her fingers into her glass of water and flicked water droplets at her friend. "Quatre tells me you still haven't done anything about Duo."

"Why do you two always gossip about my life?" He glared down at his food.

She put her cigarette out in an ashtray and teased, "Because you're so fascinating."

"Yup, I'm oh so interesting," he deadpanned.

"Hey, we just want to see you happy," she argued.

"I am happy."

"Okay, we want to see you happy _with_ someone. You've never dated anyone, and the only reason Duo has is because he thinks you're unattainable. And it's so obvious that you like each other, even he knows you like him," she ranted.

"Yeah, he tries to ask me out every once in a while," Heero replied cracking his knuckles uncomfortably.

Both Relena's eyebrows shot up from behind her large sunglasses. "So what's the problem?"

"I'm not ready," he answered.

"Not ready? What needs to happen to get you to be _ready_?" She questioned.

"Just...something! I'll be able to do something about it in a few months."

"Oh my god, you have a time-table on this matter, don't you? Just how many months?"

"Eight."

"Eight months?" She parroted. "That's almost a whole year, Heero. What if Duo meets someone?"

"Well, that's out of my control," Heero replied. Although the idea of Duo dating again didn't sit well with him, Heero wanted to take their friendship to a new level, but it really did have to wait.

"I've got to go," said Heero.

Relena gaped, "You've only eaten half your lunch!"

"I know, but I have a doctor's appointment to get to before I go back to work," he stated while getting to his feet. They said goodbye and he kissed her on the cheek and left.

Heero had his own private doctor and therapist. He opted out of using the Preventers medical faculty for a personal reason, even though it was free. All agents had to have monthly check ups and psychological evaluations. Dr. Xaio was someone he trusted, who also forged his medical papers that had to be sent back to the Preventers. His therapist, Dr. Forester, also forged his evaluations. Not everything was a lie in his medical files, just certain aspects.

"Alright, there you go Heero," Dr. Xaio said happily, pulling the needle from his patients right arm. "You're ninety-eight percent done. Six more months and you'll be ready for the final procedure."

A genuine grin graced Heero's face. "Yeah, I can't wait. The date has already been chosen."

"That's fantastic. When is it?" the doctor asked genuinely interested.

Fighting back an ecstatic grin, Heero confided, "July twenty-seventh. Gregor Beins is my surgeon."

"Excellent, excellent, Beins is a fantastic practitioner. Here's your prescription, it's a lower dosage since you're almost done, and your body should be producing most of it on its own," Dr. Xaio stated and passed the slip of paper to Heero.

"Thanks," he credited. "Same time next month?"

"Yup, see you then."

-Wednesday-

Heero waited by his car in the underground parking structure at Preventers Headquarters. He tapped his foot in annoyance. Donahue was late.

When the man finally showed up and approached him, Heero asked, "How much do you want?"

"Hmm, seventy-five thousand sounds good to me," Donahue smiled.

"Seventy five thousand?" Heero croaked. Feigning shock was his best route. The war funds he had stolen over five years ago totaled close to five million, but Donahue didn't need to know that.

"Yeah, twenty-five for me, O'Brien and Batista," Donahue grinned wider. "Think you can manage that?"

"I'll see what I can do."

-Thursday-

Heero contacted Donahue through text message and told the bottom feeder he had the money. He had decided to just pay the amount sooner, rather than later. Donahue supplied the account numbers for which the money was to be wired to.

Five minutes later, it was done. _/Maybe now all of this will end./_ But things could never be that easy.

-March 22nd AC 201-

His three trainees kept up their insubordinate actions, though slightly milder than before since he'd paid them off a month ago. The money had soothed some of their wrath. Though when Heero made an example out of O'Brien for failing miserably on a particular task, the flame of revenge was lit once again. The secret they knew held a great power over their Lieutenant, which was too tempting not to use and put him back in his place. They would make sure Heero knew what was what and reaffirm the fear in his heart.

Trowa and Heero padded into the locker room after swimming one hundred laps in the Olympic size pool the Preventers had as part of their gym. They enjoyed competing and racing against each other. It was similar to how Heero would spar with Wufei, or wrestle with Duo, or debate politics with Quatre or Relena. It was simply their thing.

"You're getting slow, Yuy," Trowa teased and nudged the Japanese man with his elbow.

Approaching their lockers, Heero rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever," he snorted. Heero gasped and froze when he caught sight of his locker.

Glancing over his shoulder, Trowa saw his friends' locker. The teal metal was tarnished with the word "FREAK" written with red spray paint. The smell of the paint hung very potent in the air. "What the fuck?" He exclaimed and slammed his own locker loudly, the clatter echoing off the concrete walls. "What're we in third grade? Who pulls stunts like this shit?"

Heero just shook his head in disbelief, gathered his clothes from the locker and headed for the showers. Spotting another agent at the end of the row of lockers sitting on the metal bench, Trowa approached and asked, "Do you know who did this?" He was livid for his friend.

The agent replied, "I wasn't here when it happened Lieutenant Barton, but I heard it was Tristan O'Brien, sir."

"Who's O'Brien?" The tall man asked.

"He's one of Lieutenant Yuy's rookies," he answered. Just then Heero came back changed but un-showered. He would probably never use the facilities ever again thanks to _that day_.

"Hey, you need to do something about this," Trowa told his friend.

Heero shrugged. "Don't worry, I'll deal with it."

"Fire the guy! Une will back you up on it," Trowa demanded. If one of his trainees did this to him, he'd send them out of the program instantly. "We don't need agents who do crap like this."

"I said, I'll deal with it," Heero insisted.

Heero left, and Trowa couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. That mask of indifference, which Heero uses to hide behind had slipped back on. He was certain it wasn't a good thing. Trowa had seen a change in Heero's demeanor over the past few weeks, and couldn't figure out what was going on with his friend. The blue-eyed man appeared more stressed, and an air of sadness surrounded him.

-Later that Day-

"So Heero, our time is almost up, is there anything in particular you would like to talk about?" Dr. Forester asked her patient.

Heero shook his head. "No, everything's going fine."

"You haven't met with any recent harassment?" She asked brushing her blond bangs out of her eyes.

-Flashback-

_"..what the.." Agent Donahue's face pinched in confusion. A split second passed and his eyes widen, his mouth opened in shock._

-End Flashback-

Swallowing a lump, Heero answered, "Nope, only my close friends know."

"It's very good that you have such a strong support group," Dr. Forester smiled. "Not everyone in your situation is so lucky."

A small smirk graced Heero's lips. "Yeah, lucky." If only that were truly the case.

-Friday-

"Hey, I heard one of your rookie's vandalized your gym locker," Duo said, taking a seat in the available chair in front of Heero's desk.

"Yeah," the stoic man supplied.

Resting his chin in his hand, Duo asked, "Whatchu do about it? If it were me I woulda just fired the prick."

"I dealt with it," Heero shrugged.

Dou's brows furrowed, creasing the bridge of his nose. "That's not what I heard," he argued. "I heard you didn't do anything."

Slamming his fists on his desk Heero yelled, "Damn it Duo, just leave it alone!"

The braided man flinched at his friends' outburst. "Alright," he said in a quiet voice.

"I'm sorry," Heero muttered, rubbing his forehead. "Stressed out."

Duo smirked. "Maybe you need a little fun, neh?"

"Like what?" Heero asked eyeing the man across from him suspiciously.

Shrugging his shoulders, Duo offered, "Why don't you and me go play a few games of pool at Daily's, tonight? Have a few drinks and shoot the shit."

Lowering his blue eyes to the computer keyboard in front of him, Heero mumbled, "I don't know." He didn't have to look up to know Duo was disappointed. Heero consistently turned Duo down when he suggested just the two of them do something together.

"Fine!" Snapped Duo, and removed himself from Heero's office. The hot and cold attitude shit was really starting to wear Duo down. He was contemplating leaving the whole thing with Heero behind, and looking for someone else. He couldn't keep waiting. They'd been doing this little back and forth dance for quite sometime. Every now and then, Duo would loose hope, date other people. After each break up he felt like he was getting closer to breaking Heero down, but chipping away at Heero's gundanium alloy shell was a tiring task. Dead or dying or not, Duo didn't care, he wanted more from Heero.

Again rubbing his forehead with both palms Heero wondered if pushing Duo away like this would be worth it in the end. Maybe he would understand? Maybe he wouldn't pull away after knowing? Maybe it _would_ ruin their friendship? Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe he should just murder Donahue, Batista, and O'Brien, and then he could have kept his seventy-five thousand dollars.

After finishing his paperwork, Heero dragged himself down to the gym to spar with Wufei. Heero ended up hitting the mat more often than not, and by the end of it all, he was irritated with himself for being so distracted.

After showering and changing, the two friends walked side by side to the parking structure.

"Heero," Wufei said. Heero internally groaned knowing Wufei only used first names when he was concerned about something. "What's going on with you?" Wufei's tone wasn't argumentative or demanding, but soft and curious.

"Nothing, why?" Heero asked watching his feet.

"You haven't been yourself lately," the Chinese man stated.

"What do you mean?"

"You're quieter these days, like you used to be," Wufei answered. "You're distracted a lot too. And there are all these rumors flying around about you letting some of your subordinates push you around. And you just seem," Wufei turned his head to look at his Japanese friend whose eyes were locked to the ground. "You seem sad or depressed."

"I'm fine 'Fei, really," Heero tried to sooth, but his voice rang with melancholy.

"Duo told me you shot him down again," Wufei chided lightly. "You know, he's really good at cheering people up, and he's not going to wait around forever."

Heero gruffed, "Why is everyone pushing me to do something about Duo?"

"Because some of us," Wufei reached into the inner breast pocket of his Preventer issued jacket, "want you to be as happy as the rest of us." He pulled out a velvet box, opened it, and showed the diamond ring within.

Heero stopped dead in his tracks. "You're going to ask Sally to marry you?"

Wufei nodded, "But don't tell anyone, you're the only one that knows." He winked.

"Wufei that's great! There's no way she'll say no." A sensation of overwhelming happiness soared through Heero for his close friend. Sure, they may be fairly young to be getting married, but they had lived longer lives than most would have in their circumstances.

"Yeah I know. She's been dropping hints for about six months." Wufei placed the ring back in his pocket. "Call him, Yuy."

The two men separated to find their respected vehicles. Sitting in the driver's seat, Heero contemplated what Wufei had said. He was feeling depressed, stressed, and anxious, but that was all because of Donahue and his little posse.

Pulling out his cell phone, Heero quickly dialed Duo's number on the touch screen. He tapped impatiently on the steering wheel as it rang twice.

"Hello?"

"Hey, um, it's me," Heero mumbled, cracking his neck nervously.

Duo chuckled, "Yeah, I know that. What's up?" Heero could hear a noisy atmosphere in the background.

He was tempted to hang up, but instead asked, "Do you still want to meet up a Daily's tonight?"

"Sure, I'm already there. Alone. Are you just now leaving HQ?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in fifteen."

Entering the bar, Heero walked around until he spotted Duo in the back at a table, sitting on a bar stool alone. Taking a deep breath, Heero approached his braided friend slash crush. Duo grinned and his eyes lit up with joy as he saw Heero making his way over.

"Hey, I got you a schooner of Stella," Duo nodded towards the second drink on the table.

Taking the vacant stool, Heero smirked. "Thanks," he replied and took three large gulps.

A chuckle came from the American. "Long day at the office?"

"You could say that," Heero stated, twisting the coaster that his drink sat on top of. He was apprehensive; it had been a long while since he and Duo were alone together, public or private setting aside.

Sensing his friends' discomfort, Duo asked, "You wanna shoot some pool? Free table right there," he offered, nodding his head to right.

"Yeah, let's do that," Heero smirked nervously as he bobbed his head.

The two men played a couple of rounds, drinking plenty of beer along the way. By the end of their third game both were fairly tipsy. The alcohol allowed Heero's reservations to take a back seat. They flirted with witty sarcastic remarks, laughing at each other and themselves. More than once, Duo insisted Heero's "stance" was off, and corrected him by pressing firmly against the Japanese man and adjusting how he was shooting the pool stick. Heero reveled in the sensation of having Duo so close. He was more than half aroused after having Duo melded to his backside. The braided man's hands sliding along his arms and maneuvering his own hands on the stick left a tingling feeling across his skin. Warm breath on the side of his neck tickled his ear, the heat of it increasing his own temperature and pulse. Duo's voice dropped to a low husky rumble as he whispered in Heero's ear, telling him what to do. The last time Duo corrected his posture, Heero felt a definite bulge between two layers of pants. He sucked in a lung full of air quickly; his palms began to sweat as his mouth watered.

The game ended and the two returned to their table. "It's getting a little late," Heero murmured shyly.

"Yeah, hey I didn't drive, so if you could give me a lift as far as your place, I can walk the last four blocks to mine."

Heero offered, "I'll just drive you to your place."

"No, you don't need to drive anymore than you have to. We're probably both over the legal limit," Duo elaborated. "Plus, this way I can walk you to your door," he said with a wink and jumped from the barstool. "Tonight's on me!" The violet-eyed yelled over his shoulder, braid swinging against his butt.

Heero wanted to tell Duo that this wasn't a date, he could pay for his own drinks, and didn't need to be escorted to his apartment door, but at the same time, he wanted all of that. This could be considered his first date, and that it was with Duo made it more exciting and special. But Heero had to be careful and tread lightly. Sitting at the table, finishing off his drink, Heero glanced around at the other bar goers. A group of four around the pool table recently vacated, a man necking on a woman at the bar, two robust women booing at a hockey game as they held hands, three woman exiting the lady's room together laughing.

Staring at the circular blue sign with the symbol of a woman in white as the door swung on its hinges, brought a memory to Heero's mind.

-Flashback-

_There was blood, blood on the tips of his fingers. /...no.../ He ran naked from his room. Running through the shiny, cold, chrome halls, always eerily illuminated with harsh fluorescent bulbs, he found the door he sought. With his clean hand, he pounded on the metal until it swooshed open._

_Thrusting his hand forward at the elderly man, he begged in the midst of panic, "Help me."_

_A claw grasped his bloodied hand by the wrist. "Calm down Test Subject K, it's just..."_

-End Flashback-

"Earth to Heero," a hand waved in front of his face.

"Huh?" Was his intelligent reply.

"Where'd you go in that crazy head of yours?" Duo laughed.

Heero smiled, "Nowhere important. Let's go."

The drive to Heero's apartment was silent, a little awkward for the Japanese man. He wanted Duo to chatter nonstop like he normally would, but his companion stared out the passenger side window, silently. Parking his car in his designated spot, both men climbed out of the vehicle, and true to his word, Duo followed Heero up to the second story of the apartment building to his door.

Twirling his keys on his finger, Heero turned to Duo. "I had a lot of fun tonight."

"Yeah, me too," the violet-eyed man responded rocking on his heels, hands in his back pockets. _/Just do it, Maxwell./_ Duo berated himself mentally. Oddly, it sounded like Wufei's voice.

"Alright," Heero clapped his hands nervously. "See you Monday." Turning, he inserted the key into the lock, and two strong hands on his shoulders spun him back around and pushed him back against the door.

Duo planted a rough, demanding kiss on Heero's lips, holding the back of his head and a hand to the smaller mans hip to keep him in place. Heero was shocked for a split second, before he gave in and kissed back; like hell if he didn't want this more than anything. Wrapping his unbelievably strong arms around the braided man, Heero pulled him closer and opened his mouth. The kiss became heated as their tongues dueled for dominance, panting and moaning into each other's mouths. Extreme euphoria rang through Heero's spin, this was more intense than he had ever imagined.

Shoving his leg between Heero's, Duo lasciviously ground into him. Heero's blue eyes snapped open, and before he could think, he shoved Duo back and hollered, "Stop!"

Duo stumbled a bit, raised his hands, and gave Heero a confused searching look.

"I'm, uh, I'm sorry," the blue-eyed man stammered. "I like that, really I do. It's just, um it's just..."

"It's fine," Duo soothed. "Really, it's okay."

"I'm really sorry."

"Stop apologizing," Duo laughed timidly. After an awkward moment of silence, he requested, "Can we do this again sometime?"

Heero knew if he distanced himself from Duo now he won't get a chance like this again. He was going to have to find a way to balance all his secrets and keep them hidden. Heero nodded in response to Duo's question.

"Great," Duo blurted nervously. "You won't punch me if I hug now, will you?"

Heero snorted, "No."

The two embraced in a chaste hug. Heero peered over Duo's shoulder at the night's starry sky. He used to be jealous of the height Duo gained after the war out of pure masculine pride, all of them had grown taller, but thanks to his Asian heritage, Heero stopped around five foot ten. The braided man had another four and a half inches on him, making him the second tallest of their click.

The hug was long, awkward but comforting as Duo swayed them gently. "Alright, I'll see you Monday," Duo whispered in his ear. He kissed Heero's temple and left. The Japanese man watched him walk away before entering his apartment. Inside a grin blossomed on his face.

-Monday-

"I want you all to disassemble, clean, and then reassemble your weapon as fast as possible," Lieutenant Yuy ordered his class. They all quickly obeyed competitively to be the first ones done. Donahue, Batista, and O'Brien were the last ones to finish.

"Your timing is pathetic," Heero scolded the three men. They glared back at him, furious that he was embarrassing and singling them out. Turning to address the whole class of sixteen men and women, Heero stated, "You need to know your weapon inside and out. In the field you have to be able to reload without even looking at your weapon. If it jams, you must know how to fix it! You will have the lives of other people in your hands," Heero glared at the three seething men. "If you can't do this efficiently, you don't deserve to be Special Agents."

Smug smirks and snickering came from the rest of the class. They were glad to see their Lieutenant patronize the three men who were becoming increasingly obnoxious and disrespectful with each passing week. The rookies were dismissed and sent home with paperwork to fill out on Heero's behalf; he had plenty more to do himself. It felt good to put those three down for once, instead of turning the other cheek. Heero was in better spirits for the rest of the work day.

At five o'clock, Duo knocked on his door. "Oi, it's quittin' time. Shut down your computer, let's bail."

Heero smiled and complied with Duo's request. Leaving together, they rode the elevator down in silence, smirking from the joy of simply being around each other. They bumped and nudged each other playfully as they walked to the parking garage. Duo was going to attempt to steal a kiss when he spotted Heero's car.

"Hey, you've got a flat," he stated.

Heero looked over his shoulder. "God damn it," he hissed.

"No worries, you got a spare right? I'll help you change it."

Heero pulled the spare and the jack from the trunk of his car. Duo placed the jack on the supporting beam and pumped it to lift the car. Using the cross wrench, Heero unbolted the flat back tire.

"This has been cut with a knife," Duo observed, inspecting the slice in the tires tread. Heero grunted noncommittally and placed the spare on the hub. Duo tightened the bolts back on while Heero tossed the damaged tire in the trunk.

After completing the task, Heero walked irritably to the drivers' door. "Fuck!"

"What's wrong?" Duo asked as he came around. 'Fraud' was craved into the black paint on the drivers' side door. "Woah, alright. We need to go check out the security footage and see who the hell did this."

"No, I think I know who did this. Let me handle it," Heero argued.

"Why not just check the footage to know for sure?" inquired Duo.

"Just leave to me, okay?" Heero got into his car, started it and pulled it in reverse. Just before driving off, he thanked Duo for his help through his cracked window, but Duo wasn't about to let the matter drop. Pissed off, he went stalked back into HQ.

-Tuesday-

Duo intercepted Heero as he marched to his office. "Hey, I found out who fucked with your car," he informed.

"I told you to leave it to me," Heero ground out through gritted teeth.

Rolling his eyes Duo admitted, "I thought you might like a little help. It was Manuel Batista, one of your guys. You need to dismiss this fucker."

"Duo!" Heero snapped. "Just leave it the fuck alone!"

"Hey, I'm just tryin' to help you!" Duo defended, poking Heero in the center of his chest. "Rumors are flyin, sayin' you're goin' soft on your guys!"

"Fuck the rumors," Heero growled, smacked the violet-eyed mans hand away and stormed off to his office. "And I didn't ask for your fucking help!" The Japanese man yelled over his shoulder.

Stalking to his own office, Duo fumed internally. All he wanted to do was help. Apparently he had overstepped some unfamiliar boundary. Slamming his door shut, the braided man paced back and forth with his hands fisted on his hips. Over the past month Heero's attitude fluctuated all over the emotional spectrum. Typically he was calm and collected and all these inconsistencies brought back that instant message chat they had a while back. A dying man would go through the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Heero's short fuse seemed to indicate stage two. The idea of the blue-eyed man perishing made despondency and fear dig their evil claws into his heart. He had already lost so many loved ones through his young tortured, war-ridden life, and the notion of loosing someone he was in love with seemed too much to bear. Love conquered the fear as Duo came to the decision that if Heero were truly dying, he would stick by his side for as long as possible.

-Later-

Heero cornered Batista outside the cafeteria. "Don't fuck with my shit _Agent_!" he sneered.

"Then you better watch how you treat us, freak. Or we'll blow the lid on your little secret. How would you feel if everyone knew you're a -"

"Shut up!" Heero hissed. "Just back off."

Batista raised his chin and scowled down at his Lieutenant, "Or what?"

Heero tried to think of some kind of threat, something to make the three of them back off, but he had nothing. "I thought so," Batista smirked. "You're the one who has to play it cool, so I suggest you watch your mouth and not fuck with us again, or things will get worse." He passed Heero, bumping his shoulder roughly against his Lieutenants, disappearing into the cafeteria.

/_Why did this have to happen now? When everything's almost complete and done._/ Heero questioned. All this intolerance was completely knew to the Japanese man.

-Flashback-

_"Alright kid, you pretend to be my son and I'll teach ya everything I know." The man smiled and reached out his hand._

_The small child grasped the mans' fingers. "Now lets get you some new clothes and a hair cut," the man chuckled. "No one will believe you're my son looking like that."_

-End Flashback-

Later in the workday, Duo found Heero in his office and entered without knocking.

"Look," he stated defensively, barging in with his arms flailing in the air. "I know you didn't ask for my help, and maybe I over stepped my boundaries on telling you how to deal with the people under your command, but I really was just trying to help you out. I mean, the guy fuckin' slashed your tire and keyed your car."

"I know," Heero replied softly, massaging the space between his eyebrows. "But please, in the future, just let me deal with shit like this. It's my problem, not yours."

Even to Duo, Heero's anguish was a tangible thing in the air. Desperately, he wanted to ask what was going on, he knew he was being left in the dark about something and Duo's mind ran amuck thinking of the worst scenario. Unfortunately, forcing Heero to talk about whatever it was would be similar to asking a rock to speak.

-Flashback-

_"You should never tell a lie, Duo," Sister Helen scolded softly, catching the young boy in a fib._

_Duo protested with his arms crossed over his chest, hugging himself, "I didn't want to make you mad."_

_"I know, but lies and secrets can only bring pain," the Nun asserted._

_"What kind of pain?"_

_"They hurt people's feelings," she explained, "and secrets will make you feel alone and isolated."_

-End Flashback-

Duo nodded his head glumly, "Alright, later then."

-April 28th AC 201-

Heero and Duo had to put their slowly budding relationship on hold. Lieutenant Yuy had been assigned a four-week mission in Tokyo, Japan that would test his students' abilities in the field. They were given one month's time to infiltrate a small prostitution ring and bring the men in charge of the sex slavery to justice. Everything had gone according to plan until the take down. Four civilians had been injured and one later died of a gunshot wound. This lapse in protocol and safety was at the fault of Heero's three worst men. In the confusion of arresting the men in charge of the whorehouse and chasing down the ones who tried to break free, the prostitutes and the men enjoying their company all went running and screaming, adding to the chaos. O'Brien shot two johns who had tried to escape. Bastia and Donahue made the same mistake, and the man Donahue wounded would be the one who died later on.

Understandably, Heero laid into the three men and suspended them. Usually, he would have fired anyone for this kind of fuck up, but he couldn't terminate these men. He was going to have to write his report on what had happened and would have to deal with Une going ballistic on him. Heero had never had a mission go this bad under his watch. Feeling embarrassed and ashamed, he began the arduous task of typing out his report.

-Monday-

"Well," Commander Une slammed Heero's typed report down on her mahogany desk with a loud _thunk_. "Care to enlighten me on how the hell this happened?"

Heero visibly tensed standing in front of his Commanders' desk, hands clasped at the wrist behind his back, feet shoulders width apart. "There was a lot of commotion-" he tried to explain.

Une interjected, "Commotion, Yuy? Don't give me that load of bullshit! What this is, is a serious fuck up. From what I've heard, you've been giving preferential treatment to some of your men, particularly the three men," Une shuffled through Heero's report, "Agents Manuel Batista, Paul Donahue, and Tristan O'Brien, who are also the men that screwed you over. Imagine that." She raised her brown eyebrows and glared at one of her best and brightest Lieutenants. Heero was in fact _the_ best, but the people under his charge have been slipping. Une had no idea why this was happening and it made her furious and highly suspicious. How could Heero goddamn Yuy let this happen?

"I do not give anyone preferent-"

"I would like to believe that, Heero," Une interrupted again. "So, I'll ask you this, why haven't you dismissed them?"

"I see potential in these men and would like to give them a second chance," Heero lied. If he fired them now, they would expose him. Donahue made that very clear just after Heero suspended them.

Une smacked her thin hands on the desk. "This is what I'm talking about! You don't _give_ second chances, and I'm starting to think your judgment on these men is way off. I'm even beginning to question if maybe you need to take sometime off. Do you still feel like you're cut out for this job?"

Heero glared daggers at his Commander. "Of course," he growled out between gritted teeth, "I'm still cut out for this damned job."

Crossing her arms over her chest, leaning back in her sleek office chair, Une sighed dramatically. "Your command is known for a certain standard of ability. If you want to give these men another chance, fine. I just don't want to see your reputation around here take a nose dive." Pointing a finger at him, she demanded, "Retrain them at once."

-Flashback-

_Test Subject K sat on the floor with his ear pressed to a hard, cold chrome door, listening intently to the scientist on the other side discuss him._

_"Test Subject K is progressing and learning faster than the rest," the muffled, disembodied voice of Doctor J defended._

_Another voice, female, retorted, "Test Subject K will be difficult to maintain. I don't think we should place a person like this into the battlefield. K will need a great deal of medical attention through this transformation. There will be many problems to arise with h-"_

_"He shows a strong sense of loyalty to our mission – to Operation Meteor – and has great instincts on how to handle strenuous circumstances. He will complete any and all objectives," Doctor J justified._

_A different male voice responded, "Test Subject K exhibits too much value on human life, which in a normal person would be a commendable trait, but for the soldiers we are trying to create makes him weak."_

_A third unknown voice added, "We either retrain Test Subject K or terminate him."_

_"Test Subject K is not ma-" the female voice tried to make a statement, but was interrupted again by Doctor J._

_"Fine, we retrain him." The old scientist didn't sound happy about it, but it was his only option._

-End Flashback-

"Consider it done," Heero stated, dismayed at the idea of being in the same building as his three nemeses.


End file.
